Mohave County miner., 1887-01-09
SILVER IN HIS THROAT.
4 Boy Coughs up Haif-Dol1ar Thres
Months After He Partly swallowed

4 r.H
Il ~ Three Physicians Puzzled.
4 "The death on last Wednesday oI
Brewer Peter Dodgers l2-ycar-old son
Joseph from strangulation by bone
. collar-button which he carried in his
. mouth while romping with school-mates,
. said a weil-knoUn physician, recalls
singular case that came within my
: experience several years ago. Ithappen.
] ed in Peacedale, pretty Rhode Island
! village just across the bay from Nara
J ganset Pier. Willie Eooth. 0 years old,
was sent by bis mother to neiaaboring
grocery. She gave him silver hall
dollar for some small purchases, and to
prevent the lisiic fellows losing II, Mrs.
Booth tied the money In corner OF his
handkerchief. Willie ran down the road
swinging the handkerchief in his right
hand and shouting. A few rods IRON
the house he stumbled and almost fell.
He had been snor ing at :,is loudcst a
moment before. As he lunged forward
he threw on: his. ri, int hand To save him.
sell. At the same instant the hali-do.lar
which Mrs. Eooth had evidently tied
loosely, tipped out OF the handkerchief
and into Willie's mouth. He regaisei
his equilibrium. but came near choking
to death. n :~
"He coughed until he grew dizzy and
staggered like a.drunken person, but he
coul1 not eject tins silver piece. Some
how he made his way back home and
toitered into the house. Mrs. Tooth
peered into his throat, but could not see
the haif-dollar. She pounded on the
little fellows back in the way customary
with choking persons. Willie b.easl,ed |
more freely, but the haif-dollar did no.
come. Then Mrs. Eooth ran for the
village doctor. When they reached the
house a Few minutes later, Willie felt /
much better. The strabsling sensation
was gone and he hrcathed az usual, with
tine exception that there seemed, he said,
to be big lump just above his collar
hone. The doctor made q careful e..
animation Of the .,oy's throat. He failed
to find the coin, and concluded IL had
passed into the stomach. Willie very
stoutly declared that he could sill feel
it in his throat. This, however, the doc
tor attributed to the little fellows imag:.
nation. He therefore administered a
strong physie and departed. He called
every day for week, bat nothing vas
seen Of the coin, which Willie repeatedly
protested Was not In his stomach, but in
his t:,roat, where he could fell il. II
"a few days afterwsrd the doctor
chaneed to be q. Narraganseat Pier,
where l was s.oppins. We met, and
after describing the case he asked me to
visit Peacedale. and assist in q second
Of the boys throat. did
30, and together We pro5ed carefully and
ihoroughip for the Eslfdollar. We
could not find trace Of it. At the point 4
Just above the asophaegns, where Willie a
continued to insist that he could plainly G
feel s;,e com, tissr- was not tine slightest
lump or swelling. ] agreed with my j
friend that the hslf-dollar was in the i
boys stomach. After discussing the case !
however, We called in q widely-knovn a
Providence surgeon also infinitely ex- q
smined the boys throet. He iniorsed
,ur opinion THAI Willie had swallowed b
he silver piece. Stronger physics were u
low administered, and the next day we +
ried violent emetic. Both expedients d
allied. 1t was manifest that the coin v
'oald be removed only by an extremely ID
iifficult and dangerous surgical opera. a
ion. No argument could induce the b
amily to consent to this. CT
That the boy would die Ct slow cor o.
osive rcisoning seemed inevitable. In b
act, Inc BEGAN to waste perceptibIy with. lie
n q fortnight. remained at The Pier b
tx weeks, and was 40 interested in the p'
ase that drove over to zee little Willie m
very few days. At the end Of o month n
'e vas thin, weak, and eolorless. When OF
started back to New York he was SIM .
ly shadow. My friend the Peacedale ii
octor, wrote me several times about the &C
ase. Each letter said little Willie was si'
hinner and weaker. II was nov the bt
riddle Of November, fully twelve weeks N
ince the boy swallowed the half-dollsr,
nd I was surprised that he bad lived 30
,ng.
"The following week was still more
,rprised by Bletter saying the coin had II,
cen recovered. The way it originally .,
ew into the boys mouth had been re- :,
'arkable enough, but the manner Of its ~
appearance :, was almost incredible. q"
he boy had actually coughsd up the W
alf-dollar. Owing to his sickly con- tn
iion the family had shown him every RE-
Among other things a. the be
ays grew col6sr he was allowed to wash pl
'ery morning In basin placed CT II,
,air near the kitchen stove. While ali
ashing thus one morning . violent fit +.
coughing seized him, and during ii the ~,
'lf-dol'ar few from his mouth into the -
sin. The silver piece was as black %
the stove lid. Impossible as it may oe
em the large coin had been lodged for th'
rec months In the little fellows throat, sf
d so peculiarly placed that the most sps
illiul search could not reveal its pres- of
ce. II Is not strange, therefore, that its.
a L